Uttar Pradesh Madrasa:   A petition has been filed in the Supreme Court against the decision of the Allahabad High Court to declare the Madrasa Act of UP unconstitutional. In this petition filed by Anjum Qadri, the manager of a madrasa, and others, raising questions on the decision of the High Court, it It has been described as arbitrary. It has been said in the petition that due to this decision, the future of lakhs of children studying in madrassas has been put into question. Therefore, until the Supreme Court decides on the constitutional validity of the Madrasa Act, the High Court's decision should be stayed.

What was the decision of Allahabad HC?

On March 22, the Lucknow bench of the Allahabad High Court, while hearing a petition, had declared the UP Board of Madrasa Education Act 2004 unconstitutional and against the principle of secularism. This law was passed by the state government when Mulayam Singh Yadav was the Chief Minister. The High Court said in its decision that the state government does not have the right to constitute a separate board for religious education of any particular religion. If the government does this then it is against the concept of secularism. The court had also raised questions on the quality of education being provided to the students in Mardasoo.

High Court's instructions

Given the large number of madrassas in the state and the number of students studying in them, the High Court had asked the UP government to include the children studying in Madrassas in other schools providing formal education. For this, if necessary, the government should arrange additional seats in these schools or new schools should be opened.

About 25 thousand madrassas in UP

There are around 25 thousand madrassas in Uttar Pradesh, out of which 16500 are recognized by the UP Madrassa Education Board. Around 560 madrassas also get financial assistance from the government. According to the survey conducted by the state government in 2022, 8449 madrassas are running without any recognition. In October 2023, the Uttar Pradesh government had constituted SIT to investigate the foreign funding of madrassas. In its investigation report, SIT had recommended action against 8 thousand madrassas. According to the SIT report, 80 madrassas in the border areas have received foreign funds worth more than Rs 100 crore.